Re: Type of symlink file and readshortcut

[Mark Geisert <mark@maxrnd.com>]

Hi Håkon,

Håkon Hægland via Cygwin wrote:
> I am on Windows 10 Home, 21H1. I am trying to understand what type of files
> are generated by the "ln -s" command. According to this blog:
> 
> https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2016/12/02/symlinks-windows-10/
> 
> starting with Windows 10 Insiders build 14972, native symlinks can be
> created without needing to elevate the console as administrator.
> 
> To enable this feature, go to "Windows Security" -> "For developers", and
> turn on "Developer mode".
> 
> Further, according to:
> 
> https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using-cygwinenv.html
> https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using.html#pathnames-symlink
> 
> Cygwin "ln -s" should create a native symlink if available, and otherwise
> create a .lnk shortcut files with a special header and the DOS READONLY
> attribute set. I tried this, first I switched off "Developer mode" and ran:
> 
> $ echo a > a.txt
> $ CYGWIN=winsymlinks:native ln -s a.txt b.lnk  # NOTE: should not create
> native symlink since developer mode is not on..
> $ ls -l
> total 1.0K
> -rw-r--r-- 1 hakon hakon 2 Jun 22 15:12 a.txt
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 hakon hakon 5 Jun 22 15:17 b.lnk -> a.txt
> $ readshortcut.exe -t b.lnk
> readshortcut: Load failed on C:\cygwin64\home\hakon\test\symlink2\b.lnk
> 
> Why does readshortcut.exe fail to read the b.lnk file ? Are there some
> other tools that can determine the type of the b.lnk file? Is it a native
> symlink or a Windows shortcut file?

The file b.lnk is not a Windows shortcut file, which is why readshortcut is unable 
to read it as such.  I reproduced your report locally and tried to find some 
method of displaying what specific type of file b.lnk is, but was unsuccessful. 
Most tools just identify it as a symbolic link.

..mark